How Fuel Efficient are EVs: Cost per Distance to Drive Electric

How much could you save by going electric? We’ve looked at how dramatically electric vehicles can slash maintenance costs compared to gas-powered equivalents and how much less you could spend on fuel each year by making the switch.

Now, we’re zooming in on another important metric: the cost of charging per kilometre or per mile.

Understanding per-kilometre or per-mile costs can help you budget more accurately for fuel and gain a clearer picture of the differences between vehicles. Those difference are stark when comparing EVs to gas vehicles.

A 2025 report from the American Automobile Association calculated the driving cost per mile for a variety of vehicle types, including hybrids and EVs.

The calculations were based on the average price of regular grade gas over 12 months in the U.S. ($3.151/gallon) and the average per-kilowatt-hour charging (16.7 cents per kWh).

The AAA found that EVs cut the cost of fuel per mile by nearly half compared to even the smallest gas-powered vehicles studied. They vastly outperformed hybrids, as well, at 40% less per mile.

Source: AAA

To gain even more clarity, let’s run the numbers for a brand new EV: the 2026 Kia EV4 Wind.

Using the Government of Canada’s Fuel Consumption Ratings Tool, we can look up the amount of energy, measured in kilowatt-hours, that the EV4 Wind uses per 100 kilometres of driving (kWh/100km). We find it has a rating of 15.5 kWh/100 km for city driving, 18.0 for highway driving, and a combined rating of 16.8 kWh/100 km.

To calculate the amount of energy used per kilometer, we simply divide the kWh/100km rating by 100:

16.8 kWh / 100 km = 0.168 kWh per km (0.270 kWh/mile)

We can now multiply the energy consumed per kilometre by local energy rates. For example, if you charge overnight in Halifax using type-of-day rates, you’ll pay 11.966 cents per kilowatt-hour:

0.168 per kWh x $.11966 = $0.02 CAD per km ($0.02 USD per mile)

There’s no need to break out the calculator to get a general sense of how much fuel an EV will use compared to similar gas vehicles.

Every EV model has a fuel consumption rating known as gasoline litre equivalent per 100 kilometres (Le/100 km), which is the amount of gasoline that would be needed to drive the same distance.

The 2026 Kia EV4 Wind, for example, has a rating of 1.9 Le/100 km for city and highway driving combined. This means it uses the equivalent of 1.9 litres of gasoline to travel 100 kilometres.

For comparison, the 2026 Honda Civic sedan – considered highly fuel efficient – has a combined fuel consumption rating of 6.7 litres per 100 kilometres (L/100 km). How does that translate into costs at the pump? 

First, let’s divide the litres-per-100-kilometres rating by 100 to get the per-kilometre rating:

 6.7 / 100 = 0.067 L per km

At the time of this posting, regular grade gasoline in Halifax was running about $1.345 per litre:

0.067 per km x $1.345 = $0.09 CAD per km ($0.11 USD per mile)

At 9 cents per kilometer, the 2026 Honda Civic is indeed a fuel efficient choice, but its efficiency pales in comparison to the 2026 Kia EV4 Wind’s 2 cents per kilometre.

To be as accurate as possible, our calculations could be adjusted for:

• Highway versus city driving
• Different times and places for EV charging (e.g., home is usually cheaper than public charging)
• Using Level 2 charging stations or DC fast chargers
• Local electricity and gasoline prices
• Specific road conditions, driver behaviour, and other individual factors

Clean Energy Canada made these kinds of adjustments when it calculated how much it would cost to travel busy corridors between major urban centres in Canada in an EV versus a comparable gasoline vehicle.

For their example, they looked at the EV Volkswagen ID.4 and the gas-powered Honda CR-V; used home charging rates for the first 80% of the EV range, based on the province where the trip started; and applied a higher public charging rate for remaining distances.

Source: Clean Energy Canada; USD conversion rounded to nearest dollar